Herbes de Provence Recipe

Posted by angie on Jul 7, 2011 in Recipes | 8 comments

Recently I wrote about my product road test with a Le Cresuset French Oven where I created a beef stew using herbes de provence. One of our readers, James, asked what herbes de provence actually was and where you can buy it in our little corner of the world in Perth.

What is Herbes de Provence?

As the name suggests, herbes de provence in from France. In French, it means herbs of Provence and is therefore sometimes called Provence herbs or Provencal herbs on some menus. It is basically a mixture of dried herbs, although some people do recommend using fresh herbs as part of the ingredients because “fresher is always best”. While you may agree with this statement, it is far easier to keep dried herb blends in the kitchen for later use.

This blend was favoured by those who lived in Provence because it was plentiful in this area. In fact it was far cheaper to get the ingredients that are needed for a herbes de provence recipe. It is used for vegetable stews, fish, and meat – just like my beef stew. Unlike some herbs, it is used to infuse the flavour of the herb blend into the food – not just an afterthought. Some people also like to use it as part of a herby pizza topping.

Where can I buy Herbes de Provence?

Having been through Coles and Woolworths supermarket shelves, I was unable to find herbes de provence for sale. However, it may be available on other supermarket shelves like IGA, Farmer Jacks, and independent greengrocers or gourmet food shops like The Herdsman. I also did a search for it in Sydney and Melbourne but it does seem that no one else is able to find it available on the shelf so if any supermarket chain or independent supermarket / gourmet food shop representative is reading this – please let us know if you stock it!

The most common commercially available one around the world is by McCormicks and Ducros, amongst others. However if you don’t have someone who can send a herbes de provence blend to you, you can easily buy it online. For example, on Amazon.com they do sell herbes de provence from a whole variety of manufacturers. Some of them even come in cute little pots and bags, and there are even little garden growing kits like this:

Herbes de Provence Recipe

If you simply just can’t wait to get your special package in the mail, you can very simply make herbes de provence yourself in a mere few minutes. I used a herbes de provence recipe by world renowned chef, Emeril Lagasse.

Herbes de Provence – Makes 1 Cup

A cute jar full of "herbs of provence"

Ingredients
2 tablespoons dried savory
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
2 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
2 tablespoons dried marjoram
2 tablespoons dried fennel seed

Method
Combine all the ingredients in a a small mixing bowl. Store in an air-tight container.

Yep, it’s as easy as that. But what happens if you don’t have all of the ingredients? Well that’s what happened to me as well so here are some substitutes that you can use:

I didn’t have savory, marjoram, or fennel seed in my spice rack. Instead I substituted:

• Sage instead of savory
• Oregano instead of marjoram
• Cumin seed instead of fennel seed

Some people also like to include dried lavendar flowers in this mixed herb blend, but it is completely up to you. The traditional Herbes de Provence recipe does not include it though.